


A Ripple in Time

by InvaderHonk



Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Gen, Henry needs a nap, Mild Language, or lots and lots of coffee, will likely add characters as time goes on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-10
Updated: 2018-03-13
Packaged: 2019-03-29 10:45:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13925514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InvaderHonk/pseuds/InvaderHonk
Summary: When Boris finds a mysterious device, sending him back in time thirty years ago, will he be the one to save the studio from going to hell in a handbasket? Or will he just make things that much worse?





	1. Strange Devices and Familiar Faces

He held the device in his gloved hands, staring at the dials and crudely drawn images. His ears twitched, and he tapped it, turning the dial to one of the images. His pie cut eyes widened as a button lit up. Enthralled, he pushed the glowing green button. He felt funny, and soon he couldn't see for a moment, nothing but blinding white light. When the light faded, he looked around. He was still in the studio, but it looked.. Better. No ink, no cobwebs, no broken lights.. He put the device in the pocket of his overalls, and crept around, curious. No squeaky floorboards either.. He paused when he heard a voice. "Careful with those drafts, can't afford to have to redraw those." The voice sounded familiar to the wolf, and he ducked out of sight as someone walked by. Someone with familiar brown hair and eyes so dark brown they were nearly black. Boris could feel his ink curdling at the other voice that called back. 

"I know, I know Joey. I'll be more careful.." He recognized that voice as Henry. But how was this possible? Henry was... Joey was... The wolf shook the sick feeling out of his head, and crept out of his hiding spot in the closet. He moved forward, trying to bite back the feeling of fear of the unknown in his gut.. He peered into the room he heard Henry's voice coming from, and stared. There he was, thirty years younger. His ginger hair falling over his face as he sat, hunched over the desk as he sketched out a familiar figure. Boris recognized the grinning little demon anywhere. This confirmed it for the wolf. He was in the past, before things went south.. He crept forward, pausing as he stepped on a loose board, and Henry sat up straight. "I'm going, I'm going, I'm work-" He turned around, green eyes widening at the sight of the man sized wolf toon. And before Boris could motion Henry to keep quiet, the ginger man screamed. Boris's eyes widened, and he waved his hands frantically at him, trying to get him to stop before someone came running to see what was going on. "No fuckin' way..." Yet another familiar voice murmured behind him. Wally. Boris turned, looking at the wide eyed, gaped mouthed janitor. At least Henry stopped screaming, more of confused babbling now, questioning everything by the sound of it. The wolf huffed a sigh, so much for his cover.. He was sure the whole studio would know of him being there soon enough. And he sure was nervous about the inevitable confrontation.. 

~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~

"This is incredible. Unbelievable.." Joey murmured as he paced back and forth in front of the clearly nervous toon seated next to Henry. "Joey you're going to leave a rut in the floor, please sit down, you're making him nervous." Henry stated, watching his friend. "I can't sit down, Henry! Not when there's a living, breathing, Cartoon character right in front of me! Our cartoon, Henry, do you know what this means?" Joey asked, finally stopping in front of his friend, grabbing the other by the shoulders and shaking a little. Boris flinched at the motion, though Joey didn't notice. Henry sighed. "No. What does it mean?" He asked, deadpan. He was likely just humoring Joey, or just really tired. He looked really tired, Boris observed. "It means if we can figure out how he got here, we can pull Bendy off the page too!" Joey exclaimed. This caused Boris's ink to run cold, and he frantically shook his head. Henry frowned. "Joey that's.. That's ridiculous." He glanced at Boris, growing ever more worried. "Hey buddy... What's the matter? Is something wrong?" He asked, his voice soothing, calm and collected. "I mean, besides the obvious.." Boris put his hands up, fingers twitching as he tried to find a way to effectively communicate. "Hmm.. Not surprised you're not much of a talker.. I'm sure we'll sort all of this out." Henry stated, then looked back at his friend. "Right, Joey?" He asked. Joey nodded quickly. "Yeah, yeah of course." The look he was giving Boris sent chills down the toon's spine.


	2. Sleepovers and Plans of Action

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Boris learns that Henry is just as friendly as he knows him to be. And just as tired. Joey is still the same loud man, and still just as scary.

"We're not leaving him in the studio overnight, Joey, that's ridiculous!" Henry was saying, Boris following him around as he went. "Well, Henry, where do you suggest he keep him?" Joey asked, getting increasingly upset, which scared Boris. The toon latched himself onto Henry's arm, ears flicking back. Henry sighed. "Fine, but I'm staying here too, I have story boards to clean up anyway.." Joey seemed to light up at this. "Good thinking, Henry!" And he clapped a hand on the ginger's shoulder, making Boris flinch, and let go. After a few good byes -and good lucks- Henry was left alone in the studio with Boris. The ginger turned to the toon, and offered a smile. "Sorry about all that buddy, we'll get things squared away and find a way to help get you back to where you're supposed to be." He said, walking back to his desk, the wolf in tow. "Until then, you'll have to endure the chaos that comes with running and working at an animation studio." He sighed. "I know Joey can get a bit loud, but he's harmless, I promise." Henry said, sitting down to finish inking storyboards. Boris made a quiet sound, ears twitching as he sat down nearby. He knew for a fact that wasn't true. But he also knew Henry didn't know that at this point. He just gave a nod, keeping to himself. Though after a while he would shuffle over, watching Henry draw. The ginger chuckled tiredly. "Yeah, it's you buddy." He murmured, leaning back in the chair. "You and Bendy." Boris blinked, looking down at the panel Henry was working on. He made a quiet sound, recognizing what was happening in that single panel. "Hey, you hungry at all?" Henry asked suddenly, perhaps seeing Boris's melancholy expression. The wolf blinked, and looked at him. His stomach growled, answering that question. "Yeah, thought so." Henry stood, and went to a bag nearby, pulling out a metal box. "Hope you don't mind leftovers, I didn't finish my lunch earlier, heh. Don't worry, nothing's spoiled, I promise." He spoke, opening the box up and handing it to Boris. The wolf sniffed at the contents, then brought up a half of sandwich, settling back down on the floor beside Henry's desk, he started to eat, eyes closing happily. This was much, much better than the same old cans of bacon soup he's been rationing. It was a few moments later that Boris heard the telltale sound of Henry's soft snoring. Looking up he found that Henry had set the drafts aside, leaning on the desk and using his arms as a pillow. The wolf would finish eating, then settle down, leaning on the desk as he too, fell asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Boris woke up first, to the door of the studio opening, then two voices bickering back and forth to each other. Sammy and Wally, Boris recognized them. He stretched, and stood up, looking over to see Henry waking up as well. The animator still looked really tired, and managed a smile at the wolf. Boris smiled right back, looking over to see Sammy walking up. Seeing the tall, blond music director was a little offsetting. "I take it you two slept well." Sammy joked, making Henry laugh bitterly before yawning. "You take it wrong, my friend.." He mumbled, standing. "Joey and his bright ideas here yet?" He asked, Sammy shaking his head. "Nope, not yet." He confirmed. "Good, it's too early to hear about how we're going to get this guy back home.. I'll get you and Norman the finished drafts here shortly, I need a moment to wake up.." Henry murmured, shuffling past the music director. Sammy looked at Boris, and managed a short chuckle. "You are quite the talk of the studio lately. Too bad you're not saying anything, I'm sure everyone would love to know how you got here." Boris managed a smile, even if he knew. No, no one wanted to hear about the horrors that would befall everyone here. He also knew there had to be a way to stop said horrors from happening. How? Well, Boris just didn't know the answer just yet..


	3. Trusting in Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Boris makes some friends, friends he can trust. Friends that would no doubt help him in his self decided quest.

He always stuck close to Henry, and when Henry wasn't there, he'd stick close to Norman. That way Joey wouldn't try to bother him. He got along well with the others there too, Wally especially after he fixed the leaky sink pipe in the break room and making his job a little easier. It was still a little perplexing to see Henry draw, careful strokes of ink on paper. Seeing them move on screen via the projector Norman kept a careful eye on? Not so much. To Boris it was like looking at memories, from someone else's perspective. All of it was of him and Bendy, he hadn't seen anything hinting at Alice around just yet. No posters, or toys, or well.. Mentions of her at all. They must not have tossed her idea around just yet, Boris figured. "Hey, Boris?" The wolf blinked at Norman's voice, and he looked over. "You alright there?" He asked. Boris blinked again, then nodded. "Alright.. If ya need anything, do try to let me know to the best of your ability." The wolf managed a smile, nodding once more. He had to stop spacing out so much, he was surely making some worry.. He'd lean on the banister of the projection booth, looking at the still silent cartoon playing out on the screen before them. "Yeah.. I know." Norman spoke up again, and Boris's ears twitched, letting the man know he heard. "Joey's strange, this whole place is strange." He continued. "But, you'll learn to get used to it, not let things get to you." Boris sighed at this, trying not to let Norman's words get to him. He did look over at the man, giving a smile once more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He looked up when Joey came to check on Henry. The wolf and the animator were in the break room, sharing a lunch. "Hey, got any ideas about how to get Boris back where he needs to be going?" Henry asked, looking up. Joey sighed, sitting down at the table the two were at. "No, Henry. First I have to figure out how he got here in the first place." He sighed again. "And it's not like he can tell us.. If he could talk.. Oh the secrets he can tell.." He murmured, smiling in a way that gave Boris an uneasy feeling. But Henry didn't seem to acknowledge it, probably too afraid. Not like Boris could blame him.. He just stared down at the mostly eaten sandwich in his hands, not wanting to look at Joey anymore. He would see that strange little device tucked away in his pocket, the one that brought him back here in the first place. Maybe he would show it to Henry later. But he knew better not to show it off when Joey was around, fearing he might take it. Much to Boris's relief, Joey got up and left soon enough, saying he was going to check on someone else. Henry would get up soon after, getting ready to go back to his desk. He would stop when Boris reached out, tugging on his shirt sleeve gently. He turned around, confused. "What's up, buddy?" He asked, watching as Boris fidgeted a bit, and blinked when the wolf pulled out the device. "Hey, what'cha got there?" He asked, frowning when Boris put a finger up to his muzzle, signalling Henry to stay quiet. "I.. Don't understand, Boris.." He murmured, looking at the device, then back up at Boris. "What is that?"


	4. Doodles and Audio

Another night with Henry consisted of trying to explain to the animator what happened and how he found the device. Which he did by drawing.. Or more like scribbling.. He couldn't exactly write anything, he didn't know how, he never had to write before. Drawing was just a little easier, even if everything was stick figures and simple shapes. Either way, Henry seemed to understand. "So.. You're from the future?" He asked, squinting at the series of scribbles. Boris nodded quickly, showing Henry the device, and pointing at the crude images that were drawn on each section. Henry frowned, not seeming to understand fully. He didn't even want to touch the thing, perhaps too afraid of what would happen if he did. He looked back at Boris. "Does it have any way of getting you back?" He asked. Boris blinked, frowning and looking at the device in his hands. He.. Didn't know. But he didn't want to try, afraid of it himself. "I'll take that as a no.." Henry sighed. "It's alright buddy, we'll figure something out.." 

 

The night streched on, and Boris answered any questions he could. Including how he came to be, drawing the cursed Ink Machine. Yet, he wouldn't even begin to explain to Henry how it worked. Thankfully Henry didn't press any further, and folded up the papers Boris used to explain things, tucking them in his work bag. Out of sight, out of mind. Instead, Henry opted to finish up more storyboards, they had deadlines to meet after all. Boris sat by the desk, staring down at the device in his hands, lost in thought. He just hoped he was doing the right thing by showing, and kind of telling, Henry what was going on.

 

This time Norman woke the two of them up, and the man apologized after realizing he scared the two of them out of their skins. Henry laughed it off, trying to settle his nerves. "Not a problem, Norman." Boris nodded along, smiling as well. The two's smiles didn't last too long, when they realized Norman was giving Boris an odd look. "What you got there?" He asked after a while, and Boris froze, looking down at the device still in his hands. Henry stood up. "Uh, it's.." He fumbled for words. Norman chuckled, holding a hand up. "Don't worry about it, I won't tell Drew." He assured. Henry sighed, smiling, trusting the other. "It seems to be a time device." He said, voice low just in case any others were around. "It sent Boris here from the future, and we don't know if it can get him back, but judging by what he's drawn down? Something terrible happened." He explained. Norman hummed, frowning as he nodded. He looked at Boris. "I'd like to help." He said after a while. Henry and Boris looked at each other. "Well, we're probably going to need all the help we can get.." Henry murmured, looking back at Norman. "Alright, but we can't let Joey know about any of this. He already makes Boris really nervous as it is." He explained. Boris didn't have a good feeling. It was bad enough roping Henry into something out of his control, and now he was roping Norman in as well.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

"I thought the first two weeks were bad. Just the other day came a surprise to us all. Boris. I know I know, this is going to sound like I'm completely nuts, but.. Boris is real. Living, breathing, real. Now I'm working just about all day, all night, but for a different reason. We can't let Boris's existance slip out. Joey made us all promise what happens in the studio, stays in the studio. That includes Boris. We don't want him getting hurt, or causing mass panic.." Henry sighed into the tape recorder. "But.. He does come in handy when I need some poses at different angles... Sorry, that sounds awful.. But it gets the job done just a little faster." He paused again, looking around. "That's not all. He has this.. This device with him.. It brought him here from the future. A future where something awful happened by the sound of it. He came from a machine of ink, but he won't tell me how. All I know is, he gets really nervous around Joey..."

 

Henry sighed again, turning the tape off and sticking it back in his bag. He froze, looking up when he heard the sound of footsteps walking away, but whoever it was had left out of sight already.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tried to make this one a little longer, and break off the habit of writing a big ol' block of text and try to pass that off as a chapter (seriously, thanks for putting up with that bs, I'll try to break up paragraphs more often)


End file.
